Eternal Flame Prologue
by Hunter of Artemis101
Summary: A one shot/prologue to the new Percy Jackson fanfic Eternal Flame. Review and let me know if I should continue this or change the prologue. R


**Prologue:**

_"Love does that to us. It Changes us. Surprises us. Makes us question our lives, beliefs."_

Her eyelids open, flashing those dead weary eyes of hers, through the darkness of the room. She hears the soft engine of the flying ship, The Argo II, which Leo Valdez named, thudded softly along with a soft purr of the metal. It comforts her, almost like a lullaby. She hugs her blankets tighter, twisting the ends of it, temped to rip the ends off. She's alone.

Completely and utterly alone.

She breaths in the loneliness, along with oxygen, of course.

She hears Piper Mclean, a daughter of Aphrodite, loudly snore from the room next door to hers. She almost smiles. Almost.

After the _incident, _Piper has been her closest friend. They cried together, practiced fighting with their blades together, fought in the war together, trusted one another, and confessed many secrets with each other. Including their dark pasts.

But she never confesses to the daughter of love of the _incident_. With him. When Piper does ask of him, she lies slickly, like honey being spread. It's gotten easier, better, to be dishonest now. One year later of lies, and the daughter of Athena can really, truly lie. But Piper's difficult to lie to. Yes, because they know each other very well, but because Piper Mclean holds the power of compulsion, to charm speak. The charm speak also allows them to analyze another person's voice. To see if they're lying, or speaking the honest truth. A rare gift that some daughter and sons of Aphrodite posses. Like Drew for instance, Piper's half sister, who never seems to cover up her chest. The power made them able to detect most lies.

If Piper did know that Annabeth was lying, she never pried about the subject. Just a curt wave of the hand, or nod, and onto the next topic they go. Piper isn't like most children of Aphrodite or Venus. She wears ripped, grimy jeans, doesn't care how she looks, and likes to fight as much as Annabeth does.

But she does know about love.

A topic for the wise, knowing, daughter of Athena, that she can't seem to grasp.

His name? Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, also Thalia's brother that went missing. It hurt Annabeth slightly, that Thalia never told her of him, but doesn't mention what she feels to Thalia. Or to anyone for that matter. Jason Grace. Blue wise eyes, and Piper's love. After the Greeks had discovered the next Great Prophecy there had been a Roman Camp discovered as well. Piper had thought she had known Jason before, but it turns out it was just the mist, coating and changing her memories. So Jason was there, in her memories, even though he wasn't.

Piper still loves him though.

She rolled to her side, in the pitch black darkness of her room. She's comfortable in the soft bed, but the hard flashes of remorse, regret, and pain keep her wide awake and alert.

Sometimes Annabeth would ask Piper why she just got over Jason. Piper would always respond with, "love does that to us. People, I mean. It changes our perspective, the way we live, the way we do things. It makes us question our life, makes us wonder if what we're doing is the right thing. It changes us, Annabeth. Changes people. For better or for worse."

It certainly changed her, Annabeth Chase. But at that moment, she didn't think it was that spontaneous, illogical, stupid thing called... _love._

Because she doesn't feel love. She's incapable of love, she doesn't need to love anyone. She can live the rest of her life, without love, even if that means making her bitter and lifeless.

Even dead.

She doesn't need to love her father, her mother Athena, her stepmother, her two younger half brothers, her best friends... or _him_.

Annabeth couldn't even think his name, without going into hysterics. Without crawling herself into a deep hole of agony and churning the pain inside of her. Without breaking, shattering, and becoming lifeless. She thinks about him. Every single damn second of the day. The way his raven hair just slightly edged over his eyes. His eyes. Don't even get her started on those beautiful sea green eyes of his, that resembled the Ocean, only shredded into tiny specks of different, unique colors. The specks of colors, in his eyes, would shimmer like diamonds when he was near anything that made him remotely happy. And the way the specks would churn like a storm in the sea, if angry or sad. The way he would speak, like his friends and family was his entire world. The way he would always say something obtuse and oblivious and unintelligent, that for some strange reason, made her giggle. Her, Annabeth Chase, giggle like an Aphrodite girl. The way he would call her 'Wise girl.' The way he would let her think that he was someone she could trust, turn to, someone permanent.

All she ever craves, is _him_. Not food, not water, not life- him. His presence, even just his smile, that was so bright and pure it put Apollo to shame. Even just one minute with him. One second.

She'd do anything to be with _him_.

Even though he betrayed her. Stabbed her in the back, left her side, for Kronos. For Luke. How he threw her to the side, like she was some toy, that he could play around with.

And she would let him toy with her, because he was the only one who affected her in a way that was indescribable.

Annabeth knows that people were surprised, so startled in fact, that they went into shock. How could he, the hero of Olympus do such a thing? She knows that's what they all think. They think that it should've been her.

Eventually, she does too.

That theory is more logical. More realistic. Annabeth Chase- the brave, loyal, sidekick to him the hero of Olympus, betrayed her camp, him, her friends, for Luke Castellan. It makes perfect sense. She used to think that she _loved _Luke. Everyone else did as well. Even him. To betray Olympus? Her friends? Him? For Luke and Kronos?

That would've been more believable. People would have believed it. In an instant, in a second, without the slightest of hesitation.

But of all people who could abandon Olympus and join Luke's side, it was him. He who even had the fatal flaw of Loyalty, joined Luke's side. He who hated Luke. He who promised her, he would never leave her.

She doesn't make a sound as the tears began to cascade slowly down, her cheeks.

Soon the pain will stop. It has to, someday.

Then she will be greeted kindly, by numbness. The feeling of feeling absolutely _nothing_. She eagerly awaits the day.

"Annabeth?" There's a whisper by the door, and a low, almost silent knock. Annabeth rubs her cheeks, her puffy eyes, as if her hands wiping away the evidence, will take it away all together. She sits up in her bed, glad that she locked the door, before.

"Annabeth?" The familiar voice of Piper, rings out once more, this time more urgently. There's traces of fear in her hushed tone, as if she's scared Gaea or Kronos, had taken her away into the night.

She was one of the prophecy children, of the second Great Prophecy. That's why she's on a flying ship, surrounded by people who befriended her. It's getting exhausting to keep up this act of '_I'm fine, everything's just perfect!' _But she will keep it up, because she can't stand another look of pity, Chiron or Thalia, or anyone else gives her.

"Annabeth!" This time she's shouting, jiggling the door handle frantically. She hears doors open, and knows Piper's waken up the other five of the prophecy children. Hazel daughter of Pluto, Nico son of Hades, Jason son of Jupiter, Leo son of Hephaestus, and Frank, son of Mars, who could shape shift into animals.

"What's going on?" Hazel questions, her voice quavering at the end. She stares at the wall, more tears coming. She wants to be with him.

She needs him to live.

"It's Annabeth! She won't open the door!"

"She's fine," Nico states. Nico knows that she wants to be left alone. Nico knows what he did.

"Stand back." Jason orders, and second later the door flies open. She doesn't flinch. She doesn't care.

"Annabeth?" Piper murmurs in confusion, flicking on her light. She almost cringes at the light, wanting to be back in the darkness. "Annabeth." There's relief to her voice, but also concern.

She stares up at them, her grey eyes filled with tears, that blur her vision.

"He's gone." Is all she can manage, before she screams and sobs heavily into Nico's chest.

Percy Jackson is gone, she thinks. Banished into Tarturas for aiding Kronos, a week before the war. A year before the second Great Prophecy.

A year of being gone.

**A/N: So what did you guys think? Leave your thoughts in a review. This is just the Prologue to a Percy/Chaos kind of story, along with Kronos and Gaea as the antagonists. This is a percabeth story, don't like, don't read.  
PS. Do not tell me about how this is the title to a popular Twilight fanfic, Eternal Flame. I picked the title from the song Eternal Flame by Brand X music. **


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